Whilst in London several years ago for a conference, a colleague invited me to his club for lunch. As we were leaving, he said, "Are you comfortable?" I wasn't quite sure what he meant. Did I have enough to eat? Had I eaten too much? Had I had too much wine to walk without staggering? No, it meant - did I need the loo.

"tap" is more common than "faucet""pissed" can mean 'drunk' as well as angry"one-off", "pardon" and "loo" are in common usage here.

I'm keen to hang onto "Mum" and "Mummy" as opposed to the American-sounding "Mom" (sounds like Maawwwm) which is rarely heard here. Everyone of my generation anyway (30-something) still says "Mum" which to me sounds cozier and is easier to say.

I learned "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down" which I assumed had to do with burning bodies or putting ashes on common graves. Could be wrong.

I am not sure what exactly the phrase "word maven" means, but it is obvious that it does not mean "linguist". The answer to most questions asked by listeners on the May 21 show was "I don't know". How can you presume to have a deep knowledge of your language if you do not know other languages, most notably Latin? If you have to use a dictionary to look for the origin of the word "purple", or do not know that "aluminium" is the name of the element in most languages, as well as in the periodic table, you are NOT a language specialist. By the way, the host (one of my favorite, actually) could be more careful with his foreign language citations: please check the French pronunciation of "noblesse oblige".

Re: actresses/actors of the 30's, 40's having "british" accents. This was actually a "Mid-Atlantic" accent, somewhere between american and british, a transitional sound to create a uniformity between the american accents and the brits. It was still being taught as a standard way to do shakespeare plays into the 90's.,

As an aussie living and working in New York I am a source of constant amusement and frequent confusion to my colleagues and volunteers...especially if I say I will give them a ring, am working flat out, need a loo break etc..I have now lived in Canada, Britain and the US and sorry to say think the average Brit or Canuck has a better ability to deal with hearing or reading different versions of the english language ....ps in Australia we call those flat round things in the middle of the intersection... silent cops

The British usage of "taking" a decision could come from European language influence (especially Spanish, maybe French?). In Spanish one "takes" a decision, and perhaps this has spilt over into UK language use.

The US usage of the word 'apartment' over flat was largely driven by real estate developers. In the 19th Century in New York, it was not considered respectable for middle class on up folks to live in flats. However, free-standing houses were becoming far too expensive, and changes in lifestyles (independent grown men and women living on their own in the city) made houses impractical.

Real estate developers decided to bring upscale apartment buildings to the market, especially near the park (e.g. The Dakota) and along what was then 'upper' Fifth Ave. These apartments had a substantial acceptability threshold to get over, so the brokers started marketing them as "French Flats" and finally "apartments". (The vogue for all things French was in full force in the US of A as well as England, particularly among New York's smart set). We can see the same tendency today with "atelier", "pied-a-terre", etc.

from http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2007/11/take-decision-please.html

: You are right. One makes a decision. The “take” version is seen a lot in the British Commonwealth, especially in India. But even British dictionaries seem to prefer “make a decision” over “take a decision.”

This O'Connor calls herself a word maven (or at least WNYC does) and she isn't aware that Brits say "take a decision" instead of "make a decision"? I like O'Connor as a guest, but she needs to spend a little time watching Brit movies, TV, etc.

I was raised outside of Syracuse, NY. Flat commonly referred to apartments there, but only if the apartment was an entire floor of a building, usually what had previously been a single-family multi-story dwelling that was now divided into one apartment one each foor. Occasionally, i hear this usage in NYC, where I've livedfor over 20 years.

Nothing to do with British/English differences as it were, but the word "soccer" is short for "Association Football" - I understand that the press first shortened the phrase to "assoc". Then as we often do in English (Rugby became Rugger, for instance), an "er" was added and the phrase was further contorted to become "soccer".

How about the role of class divisions. When I lived in London just a few years ago class seemed to permeate social interactions. A public school there is what we call a private school. I worked at one and saw the upper class perpetuating itself. People immediately judge each others' class by their speech.

i'm pretty sure the plague explanation for ring around the rosie (not london bridge is falling down) is incorrect. i think i read it on snopes.

but regarding britishizing french pronunciation. one thing that is crazy about english, is anglicizing things instead of translating. like baltimore was bailte more, which meant big mountain in irish. but instead of english using big mountain, they just made the phrase sound english. american english has done this with native american terms. this is why other cultures, people know what their names 'mean', but in english there are names and there are words and we think they are generally separated.

I recently studied abroad in Italy, and in a conversation in a British Pub (still in Italy) with some visiting Londoners I tried to figure out their word when they are talking about a stick on fire. "Torch" in Britain is actually a "flashlight" in the US. They insisted that what I called "torch" they would call "a burning branch."

During the Falklands war, the first Gulf war and the 2nd, Americans heard BBC announcers or other British use expressions which were formerly seldom heard in American speech but afterwards became part of general conversation in the USA. "Tarmac" was used extensively in the coverage of the Falklands and now is used commonly instead of "runway", which we Americans used. When preparing for the current Iraq war we heard Tony Blair saying "at the end of the day" and "that being said," which no American would be heard saying, however, now it is common to hear these two expressions. At the moment, I can't recall what Britishism came into use during the first Gulf War.

Would LL please allow his guest to answer the questions? She's the expert. She's the reason we call in. We are glad he lived in Britan for a while--but he is not an expert in the English language and volunteering himself as such is getting annoying.

Ring Around the Rosie, like many nursery rhymes, refers to historical events. This one dates from the Middle Ages and refers to the effects of the plague: The rosie is a marking (the pox) that appeared on one's skin, people carried posies of certains herbs or flowers to ward off the disease, (A)tishoo denotes sneezing fits and, alas, they all fell down (expired).

1. A common ending for Ring Around a Rosie is "atishoo, atishoo, all fall down"

2. There's a very good book called "British English" by Norman W. Schur, out of print but available online from various places. It has about 5000 "Briticisms" and "Americanisms".

3. A fascinating (to me, anyway) British-English "reverse" is "windscreen" and "windshield". In the U.K., windscreen is the front window of your car (also known as the "front screen" in England) and windshield is a device that's placed over a microphone to reduce wind and breath noise. From the England to the US, the meanings of those two words are exactly reversed.

Hi Leonard,I love your show and it touches my life as a person from India living in CT. When I first came here to pursue my MAster's I had a tough time getting used to the difference between American & British english ...Now I work as a pharmacist , I come to find this no work like thrice in the American English Language ..it is worded as three times a day. ... diarrhoea is spelled diarrhea . I don't mind the differences now I am used to it now but I am still made fun of my English when I direct my customers to the BOTTOM MOST ROW of the aisle . I am told it is the British phrase is it true ?Thanks for your timeAsh

An American friend living in London heard the following on the morning news: "An articulated lorry has scissor-flipped on the motorway flyover. The fire brigade has been called out to suppress the blaze." American translation: "A tractor-trailer has jackknifed on the highway overpass. The fire department has been called to put out the fire."

My understanding is that the ending of Ring around the Rosie in British English sounds like our 'tissue' but it represents the sound of sneezing. The nursery rhyme was telling about the plague and one symptom was sneezing...before the person fell over dead!

from wikipedia:In the UK and other countries using British spelling, only aluminium is used. In the United States, the spelling aluminium is largely unknown, and the spelling aluminum predominates.[29][30] The Canadian Oxford Dictionary prefers aluminum, whereas the Australian Macquarie Dictionary prefers aluminium. The spelling in virtually all other languages is analogous to the -ium ending.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990, but three years later recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant. Hence their periodic table includes both, but places aluminium first.[31] IUPAC officially prefers the use of aluminium in its internal publications, although several IUPAC publications use the spelling aluminum.[32

reynolds 9 or other types of aluminum wrap is known as "tin foil" in Britain.Also " ring a ring of rosies, a pocket full of posies, a-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down " is a rhyme about scarlet fever or some other illness - not sure which, getting sick, sneezing and dying, as far as I know.

regarding ring around the roses:as a native new yorker who lived in england for 9 years i discovered this as well. the words they use in england are actually, "a-tissue a-tissue" which translates into American as "achoo achoo" for sneeze sounds. this is after all, a nursery rhyme about the plague. we all fall down means: we all fall down DEAD.all true.

It is a word representing the sound of sneezing...because that nursery rhyme comes from the time of the plague in England, and the first symptoms of the plague were cold or flu-like symptoms that caused sneezing.

Lopate, let the lady talk! When people call in to ask about where the alu thing comes from, why would you be like "WHOAH WHOAH WHOAH I don't actually know anything about this but let me yammer on with my crackhead theory for a few minutes _while the expert is sitting right effing next to me_?"

Also, please tell the callers no one is "correct", British or English.

Re: Ring-O-Rosies: The word he's mis-saying is "Atishoo" as in a sneeze - the rhyme dates to the days of the bubonic plague - a sneeze was an unfortunate indication of the onset of this malady - also, the roses in the song are to ward off the stench of death - not such a pretty song when you get down to it!

Question and Comment Q: What is the common source [if any] of the "FOR" in forlorn, Forsaken, etc.?

Comment: I found in my library video collection the 1970's PBS series about "The History of English" with Robin McNeil, which had a very intersting analysis of how various U.S. speech pronounciation differences developed from original English and Irish regions.

Is the proper spelling of the contraction for until "till" or "til?" The first spelling seems to be more frequently used, although it looks like a contraction for "untill," which would mean to reverse the cultivation of something. Thanks.

The etymology (for origins)and quotations (for usage through history) sections of the OED are very helpful in answering questions on unsage. No need to buy all twenty volumes or subscribe online: it's probably available at your local free or university library.

one discrepancy that always makes me think twice is the contrasting definitions of the word "nervy"in american english it means full of nerve or chutzpah.british friends seem to have used it as a synonym for anxious.

I like queue. It seems so polite and civilized. Sure we queue in the bank, or post office, supermarket, etc. But, at bus stops, it's nuts! Everybody wants to be the first (and it's funny how the first person is the one who will hold everyone up while he/she fishes around for fare). Or, you'll be standing there waiting forever, and as soon as the bus pulls up, someone who just got there will try to be the first person on. So much discourtesy.

I love the British expression cock-a-hoop. It just sounds so amusing and inspires visuals of people doing cartwheels and backflips. I've read it on occasion and heard my friend's dad use it once or twice.

being an Englishman (in NYC for 15 years now) but from just north of London (suffolk) I change my TH at the end of words into F maybe lazy, but maybe olde as Suffolk and Norfolk were originally the south folk and north folk, and why do all Americans still think I'm Australian ?

in answer to Steve SBlimy (sic) is spelled blimey, and is derived the phrase "Cor Blimey", which is the literal transcription of the cockney pronunciation of the phrase "God Blind Me". A similar phrase in American English might be, "Blow me down".

I am a british writer living in Brooklyn ( I have even written for WNYC!) I use the word rubbish -- to mean not very good, all the time and am often stared at quizzically by Americans who don't understand the usage.Also I am forever asking for a "bit" of cake, or a "bit" of bread, which is met with equal confusion.Usage is one thing, but accent is quite another. When I first moved here seven years ago I couldn't get a glass of water in a restaurant because of my insistence on pronouncing the letter "t". Even now it pains me to have to say "wahdurh" in order to quench my thirst.

Ted I think it is a sign of respect for other languages (lacking in Britain) that we pronounce "pasta" and "nam" - that is how I was raised in a well educated family half a century ago. Maybe we as a nation of immigrants are closer to those "ah" sounds in words from other languages.

2) "Throwing a sickie" -- calling in sick to work when you're really not. It's such a light-hearted, funny way to put it, it takes all the guilt out of it.

3) On a recent trip to London, saw a road/traffic sign that said "Changed priorities ahead." Couldn't figure out what the heck it meant, but loved its wide-ranging philosophical implications! (For the record, the Londoner sitting next to me on the bus didn't have the slightest idea what it meant either.)

Also, growing up in Chicago, buildings holding more than one apartment are called 2-flats, 3-flats, 6-flats, although we still call the individual units "apartments". When I moved to NYC people thought it was hilarious that I used a Britishism to describe these properties.

There are so many but my favorite was when I told an airport taxi wrangler how pissed I was that it was raining and there wasn't a taxi in sight. "Well, then it's bloody well convenient you can sober up in the fresh air." I found out later pissed meant 'drunk' in England.

One other that has no US counterpart, is 'dirty weekend,' a short holiday with a paramour presuming lots of illicit fun.

I prefer the American pronunciation of SCHEDULE ie. skedule, to the English pronunciation ie. shedule.

And there'a an American expression that still has awkwardness for me, and that's used when ordering a coffee at Starbucks for example: 'CAN I GET A....whatever it is..' sounds like one is asking to go fetch it oneself..! 'CAN I HAVE A...whatever..' would be preferable.

Not sure if this is really a Britishism vs an Americanism, but what's happened (here) to the Flat A in words from many other languages? You are much more likely, in the UK, to hear "pasta" and not "p(ah)sta". I don't know how often I cringe at "L(ah) Boheme". And when did Viet Nam become Viet N(ah)m?

Is this just creeping laziness...i.e., it takes a tad more effort to make that Flat A than it does to say "ah"? Or is it creeping snootiness??

I'm from the UK living in NY for 5 years now. Whilst attending a course in the city I made the mistake of asking a fellow student in the class if I could borrow a 'rubber' , which I needed to erase some words I had written in pencil.... A rubber in the UK refers to an erasor. There are numerous words in the UK that refer to those other things made of rubber...

I was born in England, long ago transplanted to New York. I just sent an email to an English friend and closed it wiith "Best love, Pamela." I just realized, in the context of the announcement of your show earlier, that to an American friend a similar expression of affection would have been "Fondly."

Also, while in London, I worked in a clothing store, so there was confusion when I told a customer that her pants looked good on her. She thought I was commenting on her underwear! In the UK, pants are always underwear; what we call pants, they call trousers.

While working in London, I was telling my English colleague about how good peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are, and how they're a staple meal during the American childhood. She came in a few days later telling me she made it at home, and it was awful & disgusting, & she couldn't believe Americans love it so much! After some questioning, it turns out she used JELLO to make her PB&J! In the UK, "jelly" refers to what we call "JELL-O."

On a recent trip to Spain, my British sister-in-law's driving directions made note of a "sleeping policeman". So, I was on the look out for state troopers hiding in the medians, while my 4-year old was looking for police sleeping on benches! It wasn't until I asked later that I learned a sleeping policeman was a simple speed bump!

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